Monthly Archives: September 2002

September 23, 2002 — John Hinderaker

Al Gore has gotten lots

Al Gore has gotten lots of publicity by by criticizing President Bush on Iraq. I haven’t seen the whole speech yet; maybe it makes more sense if you read it in its entirety. But based on what has been reported, it is very difficult to see what Gore’s point is. CNN reports that he “[backed] Bush’s overall goal of ousting Saddam and eliminating Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction,” but “questioned »
September 23, 2002 — John Hinderaker

David Brooks dissects the anti-war

David Brooks dissects the anti-war left, focusing on the left’s eerie silence about the risks posed by Iraq and Saddam Hussein. »
September 22, 2002 — Scott Johnson

Multicultural quandaries

One of the basic tenets of the liberal faith is the beauty of “diversity.” Every day the dogmas of multiculturalism are promulgated relentlessly by our schools, newspapers and media, and public authorities. The transformation of the United States by waves of immigration from non-European countries is always depicted as a phenomenon to be celebrated, as are the immigrants’ religions and cultures. Minneapolis and St. Paul have been deeply affected by »
September 22, 2002 — Scott Johnson

Today’s Jerusalem Post carries the

Today’s Jerusalem Post carries the story of a seven year old Palestinian Arab girl whose life has been saved by a kidney transplanted from the 19-year old yeshiva student from Scotland who was one of the victims of the Tel Aviv suicide bus bombing. Although the article doesn’t say so, the hospital at which the transplant was performed was of course Israeli and the surgeons Israeli Jews. I hope you »
September 22, 2002 — John Hinderaker

The Freedom Club is a

The Freedom Club is a group of Minnesota businessmen who banded together about seven years ago to promote conservative causes and candidates. Naturally, its existence is regarded by local media as a sinister phenomenon. Every two years the Minneapolis Star Tribune runs a piece on the Club. This year there is a series of articles on the Freedom Club and its liberal counterpart (sort of), the teachers’ union. These two »
September 21, 2002 — Paul Mirengoff

Things keep going downhill for

Things keep going downhill for Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend’s Maryland gubernatorial campaign. The Washington Post reports that Townsend has had to fire a political consultant after the consultant vowed to portray Repulbican candidate Robert Ehrlich as a “Nazi” to African American voters. Actually, the consultant was simply articulating the standard winning Democratic strategy in Maryland. In 1998, the Maryland Democrats, directed by top party consultant and Al Gore adviser Bob »
September 21, 2002 — John Hinderaker

Here are some first-person accounts

Here are some first-person accounts of the latest mass murder in Israel, courtesy of the Jerusalem Post. This is an old story, but worth reading once more to remember why the Israelis have again moved to isolate and humiliate Yasser Arafat, the perpetrator of these atrocities over a period of decades. »
September 21, 2002 — John Hinderaker

The Federal Election Commission has

The Federal Election Commission has imposed a record $719,000 in fines on the Democratic Party and others involved in the Clinton-Gore fundraising scandals of 1996. In addition, the FEC had to drop cases involving more than $3 million in illegal contributions to the Democratic National Committee because the wrongdoers either are “out of the country and beyond our reach, or corporations that are defunct.” »
September 21, 2002 — Paul Mirengoff

E.J. Dionne a leading shill

E.J. Dionne a leading shill for liberal Democrats, recognizes that “Bush is boxing the Democrats on Iraq,” and then spends his column whining about it. Dionne seems to think it is unfair for Bush to ask Democrats in Congress whether they will support a war against Iraq and, where the answer is negative, for Republicans to point this out to voters. Dionne objects that Democrats “who would support a war »
September 21, 2002 — Paul Mirengoff

The Weekly Standard’s Noemie Emery

The Weekly Standard’s Noemie Emery compares the early days of the War on Terror to the early days of the Cold War. As Emery notes, “several Presidents have had to wage wars, but only two Bush and Truman, have had to perceive them, and then to define them as wars.” Although it seems odd to credit Bush for perceiving after September 11 that we are at war, such is the »
September 21, 2002 — John Hinderaker

This story about the FBI

This story about the FBI agent who warned shortly before September 11 that “someday someone will die” will get huge play. Most people–even those as knowledgeable as Glenn Reynolds in this morning’s InstaPundit–will simply take this as more evidence that the FBI dropped the ball; the Democrats are pouncing on it and asking “What did President Bush know?” Few will read the fine print and understand why the FBI’s legal »
September 21, 2002 — Scott Johnson

On September 18, Governor Paul

On September 18, Governor Paul Patton of Kentucky held a news conference, wife by his side, to deny having an affair with nursing home owner Tina Conner. Patton is a Democratic bigfoot, chairman of the National Governors Association, and was expected to challenge former National League pitching great and current incumbent Senator Jim Bunning in 2004. Ms. Conner has brought a sexual harassment lawsuit claiming she had a two-year affair »
September 20, 2002 — John Hinderaker

Schroder, by the way, has

Schroder, by the way, has now “apologized” to President Bush. It seems like a pretty equivocal apology–“I want to let you know how much I regret the fact that alleged comments by the German justice minister have given an impression that has offended you.” The “alleged comments” that “gave an impression” were obviously offensive, to say the least. We haven’t heard the last of this. »
September 20, 2002 — Paul Mirengoff

In this piece, Michael Ledeen

In this piece, Michael Ledeen reminds us of the “intelligence failures” that we should be most concerned about in the aftermath of September 11. These include congressionally imposed or encouraged restrictions on intelligence gathering and covert activity, along with the simple unwillingness of Bill Clinton to accept help from Sudan in monitoring and apprehending bin Laden. »
September 20, 2002 — John Hinderaker

My own experiences with Europeans

My own experiences with Europeans have led me to think that anti-Americanism is mainly a phenomenon of the European elites–one of their many annoying qualities. I still hope that’s true. The German election may be the best test in a long time of how deep anti-Americanism runs. But the fact that Schroder considered attacks on America to be the most expedient way to close a gap in the polls is »
September 20, 2002 — Paul Mirengoff

Jonah Goldberg examines the sources

Jonah Goldberg examines the sources of Germany’s anti-Americanism. It’s a good piece, but may underestimate sheer envy as one of the explanations. »
September 20, 2002 — Paul Mirengoff

Absolutely, Trunk, although it might

Absolutely, Trunk, although it might be fair to add that the United Nations is already doing a good job of discrediting that theory in the eyes of the American public. On another front, now that the confirmation of Michael McConnell to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals looks like a done deal, the Washington Post advocates his confirmation. The Post expresses concern, however, over “the ideological uniformity of the Bush »